―Decree of the Voss, enacted after a prophecy by the Voss Mystics[src]

The Gormak were sentienthumanoids native to the planetVoss, a world in the Voss system of the Allied Tion sector in the Outer Rim Territories. They were the more populous of their homeworld's two native sentient species—and they were extremely hostile toward the other, a species known as the Voss. The Gormak were equally hostile toward off-worlders, whom they viewed as allies of the Voss. The Gormak possessed an innate comprehension of technology, although they did not develop flight capability prior to contact with off-worlders. When the planet Voss was discovered by non-natives shortly after the end of the Great Galactic War in 3653 BBY, the Sith Empire attempted to conquer the world, which the Sith thought was only populated by the Gormak. The attempt failed due to the intervention of the Voss species, and the planet remained independent.

Contents

The Gormak were sentienthumanoids with dark-brown skin. They had flat, noseless faces adorned with red frills that swept away from their eyes and mandible, collecting in whorls on the sides of their heads behind the jaw. The eyes of a Gormak were red, with orange-yellow pupils. They had clawed, three-fingered hands—also adorned with frills—and tended to possess a muscular build. The Gormak had a natural mental acuity for understanding and employing technology.[2]

Gormak society was tribal in structure, with Gormak spread throughout the wilderness of Voss—a planet in the Voss system of the Allied Tion sector in the Outer Rim Territories. They were by far the dominant sentient population on the planet in terms of population.[2] However, they actively avoided the forest known as the Nightmare Lands due to its mysterious corruptive influence.[3] They settled in camps, sometimes fortified by stolen off-world technology.[4] They constructed mines to strip the land of valuable resources for the construction of their machines and weapons, leaving desolation and monolithic structures behind.[5] What the Gormak could not construct themselves, they often scavenged and integrated into their machinery and weapons.[6]

The Gormak held an innate love of warfare and competition,[7] and they were extremely hostile toward the other natives of their planet, the Voss species. The Gormak held a cultural belief that in order for them to prosper, the Voss—whom they viewed as an unnatural plague on the planet—must be destroyed.[2] To achieve that goal, Gormak warriors repeatedly assaulted the Voss capitalcity of Voss-Ka over the course of centuries; however, despite their far greater numbers, they were never successful.[1] As both the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic established embassies in Voss-Ka,[8] the Gormak viewed both factions as enemies. Although their tribal society and basic speech patterns were considered primitive by galactic standards, their innate talent with technology rivaled the capabilities of the top minds of the Republic.[2]

Voss-Ka, home of the Voss, was the target of Gormak attack for centuries.

At some unidentified point in the past, the Voss and Gormak were once one species. That changed, however, when the Jedi and Sith encountered the planet, an encounter that has been lost to the memory of all factions involved, revealed only by the Force ghosts of Damek-Ol and Nemok-Ta. The species sundered, with those who learned to use the Force from the Jedi becoming the Voss, while those who did not - seeing the Force as "corruption" - became the Gormak.

For centuries between the sundering of the species and the re-discovery of Voss by non-native off-worlders, the Gormak settled across the planet and engaged in a seemingly endless war against the Voss species. Though restricted at the time to pre-flight technology, the technological aptitude, viciousness, and superior numbers of the Gormak made them a formidable opponent to the Voss. Despite that, the Gormak were held at bay by the training of the Voss Commandos, the Force visions of the Voss Mystics, and the fortifications of the Voss mountain-top city of Voss-Ka.[1]

Shortly after the end of the Great Galactic War with the Treaty of Coruscant in 3653 BBY, the planet Voss was discovered by both the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic. The Gormak, considered hostile by the off-worlders, were thought to be the only natives of the planet. The Empire implemented a plan to conquer the planet, although the Republic attempted to prevent the Empire from doing so. Forewarned by the visions of their Mystics, the Voss species revealed themselves and prevented either faction from achieving dominion over the planet.[1] Embassies to the Voss were then established in Voss-Ka for both the Empire and the Republic.[8] That further angered the Gormak, who were already hostile toward the off-worlders to begin with.[2]

Interested in interstellar travel, the Gormak attempted to construct starships of their own.

With exposure to greater galactic society, the Gormak gained access to new technologies, such as space-flight capability. Some Gormak turned their efforts toward the construction of starships in order to gain access to the stars.[9]